Draisaitl’s OT winner lifts Oilers past Penguins
By DAN SCIFO Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Goaltender Mike Smith and forward Leon Draisaitl stole the spotlight for the Edmonton Oilers in a game that featured NHL superstars Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid.
Smith stopped 51 shots and Draisaitl scored in overtime to give the Edmonton Oilers a 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
“It was obviously a pretty busy night for me,” Smith said. “(Pittsburgh) came at us hard and kind of put us back on our heels. We stuck with it and found a way to get two more big points.”
Draisaitl gave the Oilers the second point with the overtime winner.
Draisaitl had Alex Galchenyuk on his back when he flipped a rolling puck past Matt Murray on a breakaway 2:37 into overtime for his NHL-best 13th goal of the season. He’s the first Oiler with 13-plus goals through the team’s first 15 games since Wayne Gretzky in 1987-88. He’s also the first in team history to reach 26-plus points in 15 games since Mark Messier in 1989-90.
Draisaitl had 12 goals and 25 points in October and has seven goals and 10 points during a five-game point streak.
Colby Cave, recalled from the American Hockey League a day earlier, also scored for Edmonton, which has three wins in its last seven games after starting 7-1.
Brian Dumoulin scored a short-handed goal for Pittsburgh, which has lost four of its last six. Murray made 27 saves.
The Penguins previously won six straight over the Oilers. Pittsburgh has not lost at home in regulation against Edmonton since Jan. 10, 2006, an 18-game streak.
Dumoulin tied the game with a third-period short-handed goal on Pittsburgh’s 47th shot. Bryan Rust, on the rush, dropped a pass to Dumoulin, who beat Smith to the glove side with 6:46 left. Pittsburgh had a 51-22 advantage in shots through regulation.
“We worked hard,” Crosby said. “We had some really good chances and of course we didn’t execute. We had enough chances to win the game.”
Crosby and McDavid met for the seventh time head-to-head in a battle of generational talents. It was the first time McDavid’s Oilers bested Crosby and the Penguins. McDavid finished minus-1 with three shots, while Crosby was also minus-1 with two shots. McDavid, who played his 300th NHL game on Oct. 29, has three goals and 10 points against Crosby and the Penguins. Crosby has two goals and four points in seven games against McDavid and the Oilers.
Both were drafted No. 1 overall, Crosby in 2005 and McDavid in 2015. Crosby, a three-time Stanley Cup champion, has won two Conn Smythe trophies, two league MVPs and a pair of scoring titles. McDavid has won two Art Ross trophies and a league MVP in 2017.
Crosby and the Penguins won the six previous games, dating to their first matchup on Nov. 8, 2016. Six of the last seven games, including Saturday, have been one-goal contests and four of them went to overtime or a shootout. Last season, Crosby scored a memorable overtime goal in Edmonton to give Pittsburgh a 6-5 win.
This time, the Oilers won in overtime.
“Both goalies played really well,” Crosby said. “We just couldn’t find a way to get more than one. We had a lot of good looks and (Smith) made some saves. It didn’t bounce our way.”
Evgeni Malkin returned from a lower-body injury to put Pittsburgh at full strength for the first time this season. The Penguins went 7-4 without Malkin, who missed 11 games.
At one point through the first month of the season, the Penguins played without six regulars, including Malkin, four other top-nine forwards and a defenseman on their top pairing. Malkin played 19:45 on Saturday and tied for a team-best six shots.
“You can see the impact he has on our team when he’s in the lineup,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought for his first game back after missing a fair amount of time, he had a pretty good game.”
Pittsburgh outshot Edmonton 24-10 to begin the game, and 35-15 through two periods, but Cave scored the Oilers’ first goal at 7:21 of the second.
Smith kept it close, allowing Draisaitl to come through in overtime.
“He was our best player by far,” Draisaitl said of Smith. “He was unbelievable and a huge reason why we won.”
NOTES: Pittsburgh’s power play went 0-for-5 and is 0-for-19 in the last eight games. … Penguins D John Marino played his first game against his former team. Edmonton drafted Marino in 2015. … Pittsburgh scratched Dominik Kahun, Juuso Riikola and Chad Ruhwedel. Scratches for Edmonton were Riley Sheahan, Tomas Jurco and Brandon Manning.
UP NEXT
Oilers: Begin a three-game homestand against Arizona on Monday
Penguins: Visit Boston on Monday.
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Crosby has 3 points, Penguins drill Flyers 7-1
By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Penguins endured a brutal stretch in the opening days of the season in which high-profile players headed to injured reserve with alarming regularity.
Yet rather than panic, head coach Mike Sullivan used it as an opportunity to make sure the good habits he believes his team will need to win in one of the NHL’s most competitive divisions become ingrained. Take fewer risks on defense. Make the simple pass on offense.
Do both well enough for long enough and Sullivan knows the scoring will take care of itself, kind of the way it did during a 7-1 demolition of the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.
The Penguins poured in four goals during a 6:05 span of the first period — matching their first-period total on the season coming in — and Pittsburgh rarely let up in its biggest regular-season blowout over their cross-state rivals in 11 years.
“We’re playing the game the right way, the way we want to play it and when we all buy in the way the guys are buying in right now, I think we’re a very good hockey team,” Sullivan said. “Tonight we were able to finish on some of the chances we got early in the first period. I give our players credit. They had the right mindset from the drop of the puck.”
Sidney Crosby, wearing a facemask as extra protection after getting hit in the head by a shot over the weekend, had a goal and two assists to boost his career point total against the Flyers to 102. Dominik Simon and Dominik Kahun also had a goal and two assists apiece for Pittsburgh, which finished a busy October 8-5-0, not bad considering forwards Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust, Nick Bjugstad and Alex Galchenyuk were among the group that watched the majority of the action from the press box while sidelined with injuries.
Though Malkin remains out indefinitely with a lower-body injury, the others have made their way back, giving an already confident group a noticeable boost.
“I think you feel the energy,” Crosby said. “When guys come back in the lineup they’ve been sitting around for a while, they’re eager to get out there and I think that energy can help you. I think everyone for the first period there especially, everyone was involved and that really feeds the whole team when you can get everyone going like that.”
Jared McCann, Justin Schultz, Zach Aston-Reese and Jake Guentzel also scored for Pittsburgh. Matt Murray stopped 29 shots to win for the sixth time in his last seven starts.
Oskar Lindblom got his sixth goal for the Flyers, but Philadelphia was simply overwhelmed by the Penguins during a first-period onslaught in which Pittsburgh beat Brian Elliott four times in just more than six minutes. Elliott, given the start two days after Carter Hart was pulled in a 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders, stuck around to finish with 30 saves but the Flyers were never in it over the final two periods.
“For sure, there’s some anger in here,” Elliott said. “We have to be controlled about it, too. You have to take what you can from this game and move on. We know we didn’t have what we needed to win out here. You could see that in pretty much every aspect of the game.”
Schultz’s first goal of the season came on an innocent flick from above the right circle 5:57 into the game on a shot that fluttered over Elliott’s right shoulder. While Rust and Kahun occupied three Philadelphia defenders at the side of the net just more than two minutes later, McCann skated into the slot and flipped the puck past Elliott to double Pittsburgh’s lead. The din from McCann’s goal had barely died down when Crosby’s drop pass to Simon gave him plenty of room to beat Elliott and give the Penguins their third goal in a span of 2:49.
Crosby’s assist gave him 100 points in 68 career games against the Flyers. By the end of the period, he pushed the total to 101 thanks to a pretty cross-ice pass from Simon that Crosby turned into his fifth goal of the season and 42nd all-time against Philadelphia. The score also capped Pittsburgh’s first four-goal first period since Dec. 17, 2011, against Buffalo.
Murray, given little to do while his teammates pounded Elliott early, made sure the cushion stood up. Only Lindblom’s goal 1:57 into the third prevented Murray from posting a second straight shutout.
“It was horrible,” Philadelphia center Sean Couturier said. “Embarrassing. We didn’t come out strong. They were ready. They gave it to us.”
NOTES: Philadelphia went 0 for 4 on the power play. The Penguins were 0 for 3. … The Flyers scratched D Samuel Morin. … Pittsburgh scratched D Chad Ruhwedel and Juuso Riikola and C Sam Lafferty. … Pittsburgh has allowed five even-strength goals in its last five games.
UP NEXT
Flyers: Visit New Jersey on Friday. Philadelphia drummed the Devils 4-0 on Oct. 9.
Penguins: Get three days off at home before hosting Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
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Murray stops 25 shots, Pens score late to beat Stars 3-0
DALLAS (AP) — What could have been a bitter end to a dismal road trip turned into an emphatic win for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.
Matt Murray made 25 saves for his first shutout of the season, Dominik Kahun and Bryan Rust scored their first goals in the third period and Pittsburgh beat the Dallas Stars 3-0.
Dallas had dominated the first two periods, outshooting the Penguins 22-11, but neither team scored.
“We had one bad period, the second,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “I didn’t think we won a lot of puck battles in the second period. We had a discussion about that between periods. Our guys responded really well.”
Really well — the Penguins outshot the Stars 16-3 and scored three goals in the third.
The Penguins had lost three straight games, including the first two in a three-game trip.
Brandon Tanev added an empty-net goal with 1:14 to play.
“We got a little away from our game,” rookie John Marino said. “We got back to it in the third and we were able to capitalize on our opportunities.”
Those opportunities led to two close-in goals against Ben Bishop in a span of 2:12 in the third. Bishop stopped 24 shots.
On the first goal, Bishop whiffed at clearing the puck from behind the net. Kahun passed out to Sam Lafferty, whose shot trickled under the supine Bishop. Kahun knocked the puck in from the right side at 7:29.
“I went to go play it,” Bishop said, “and accidentally kind of hit it backwards while I was trying to hit it forward. The guy made the play up front. I thought I made the save on my side. I somehow pushed it underneath myself right on the guy’s tape.”
Kahun’s first goal came in his 12th NHL game.
“Somehow, (the puck) bounced back to me,” he said. “It’s always good to get that first one.”
Sullivan wasn’t surprised.
“It’s great for Dominik. We felt like he’s been around it the last handful of games.”
The second goal came when sixth-year veteran Rust scored amid a scramble in front. Rust was playing in his first game since being injured in the final preseason game.
The Stars were seeking their fourth win in a row. The Penguins squelched that.
“You saw a team that has won two Stanley Cups and their mindset to start the third,” Dallas coach Jim Montgomery said. “They came out and shoved it right down our throat.”
Murray had kept the game scoreless by stopping 22 shots in the first two periods.
Murray made glove saves to stop Denis Gurianov and Jamie Benn in the first.
Dallas had a flurry with seven minutes left in the second period, but Murray stopped a short-range shot by Alexander Radulov and a wrist shot by Justin Dowling after he had shot wide and retrieved the puck.
NOTES: Penguins captain Sidney Crosby did not come out to begin the third period after being hit by a shot late in the second, but he returned within the first three minutes. “We’re always concerned when someone gets hit by a shot the way he did, but he was able to come back to the game,” Sullivan said. “We’ll continue to evaluate him.”… Dallas Ds Esa Lindell and Taylor Fedun both left the ice for a time after pucks hit them in the face. Lindell had a cut below his nose, and Fedun was struck in the left cheek. … Murray’s 11th career shutout tied him with Les Binkley for the third-most in Penguins history. . John Marino assisted on Rust’s goal for his first NHL point.
UP NEXT
Penguins: Return home to play Philadelphia on Tuesday.
Stars: Complete a four-game homestand on Tuesday against Minnesota.
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Aston-Reese has 2 goals and assist, Penguins beat Jets 7-2
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Injuries to some key players has forced the Pittsburgh Penguins to play a simpler game, and it’s working out quite well for them.
Zach Aston-Reese, Sam Lafferty and Jake Guentzel each had two goals to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 7-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday night.
Dominik Simon also scored and Aston-Reese also had an assist for the Penguins. Tristan Jarry stopped 27 shots.
“We talk a lot about being hard to play against,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “It starts with your own puck possession, the decisions you make, the line changes, when you change. You put your teammates in good positions because you change at the right time. The tracking on the puck and the back pressure on the puck so you have numbers back.
“For me this is the definition of being hard to play against and it’s a recipe for success, regardless of who’s in your lineup.”
Forwards Nick Bjugstad, Alex Galchenyuk, Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust are all on Pittsburgh’s injured reserve list but the Penguins improved their record to 4-2-0 with their second win on the road this week.
“We’ve got different guys stepping up and we’ve got guys coming out of the lineup,” Guentzel said. “So it just kind of happens like that and when you lose star power like that you’ve just got to be simple and we’re getting better at it.”
Mathieu Perreault and Mark Scheifele had goals for the Jets, and Laurent Brossoit finished with 21 saves.
Jarry, playing his first game as a starter in three weeks, shook off a lucky goal from Perreault that gave the Jets a 1-0 lead in the first period. Perreault’s centering pass from behind the net bounced off a defender’s stick and in.
“It’s obviously something you can’t control, it’s something that just happens, part of the game, a weird bounce and you just have to get back and focus on what you need to do,” Jarry said.
Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice thought the turning point was a tripping penalty in the first period that gave Pittsburgh it’s second goal, followed just 41 seconds later by a third.
“We take a penalty we don’t like, and then we’re down 3-1,” he said. “We were in a fairly tight game. Not a heavy advantage to either team shot wise or chance wise. That’s where I thought it turned for us.”
He also believes the Jets’ power play needs work after they made good on just one of six chances.
“Well we’re not clicking right,” Maurice said. “We don’t have the zone time and we’re kind of out of sorts a little bit. When we get to positions that pucks get knocked down or we’re not coming up with it, we’re not in a particularly good place to defend it. We’re working on it.”
Both teams were playing back-to-back games and lacked zip in the first period but Jets forward Blake Wheeler didn’t blame it on fatigue.
“It was right there,” he said of their chance to win the game. “The start was good. Through the second period, it was good. We get the power-play goal and we’re down by a goal. Puck bounced the wrong way tonight.”
The home crowd’s celebration after Perreault’s goal was short-lived as Aston-Reese tied it up a few minutes later when, as he was falling to the ice in front of the Winnipeg net, he slipped a loose rebound past Brossoit at 4:09 for his first goal of the season.
Guentzel scored on a power play at 7:50 of the second to give the Penguins the lead and then, just 41 seconds later, a puck bounced behind the net and back out right in front of Lafferty, who slammed it in to make it 3-1.
Scheifele narrowed it by backhanding a rebound past Jarry on a power play at the 10-minute mark but Simon restored the two-goal lead with 3 1/2 minutes left as his shot pinballed through traffic before ending up in the Jets’ net. It was also his first of the season.
The Jets seemed to find more steam at the start of the third after coach Paul Maurice made some line changes but couldn’t turn things around, striking out on their fourth power play.
Instead, Lafferty scored again at 9:32 when his shot glanced off Winnipeg defenseman Anthony Bittetto’s skate. Then Guentzel beat Brossoit for his second of the game and fourth of the season at with 8:20 left to make it 6-2.
Aston-Reese scored his second of the game short-handed on a breakaway just 7 seconds into a Winnipeg power play with 5:14 remaining.
NOTES: Winnipeg finished with a 29-28 advantage on shots on goal. … The Jets had less trouble on their first meeting this season with the Penguins, walking away from PPG Paints Arena with a 4-1 win last Tuesday. … Patrik Laine picked up an assist on Scheifele’s goal but he couldn’t score despite one great chance right in front of Jarry that went high.
UP NEXT
Penguins: Host Colorado on Wednesday night.
Jets: Host Arizona in the second game of a six-game homestand.
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